OUT OF
EGYPT
3rd millennium b.c.
The Pyramid Texts establish
the role of Isis as protector
of her consort Osiris, her son
Horus, and of the pharaoh in
the afterlife.4th century b.c.
Under the new regime of the
Greek Ptolemy pharaohs, Isis
acquires Greek traits. Her cult
travels well beyond Egypt’s
borders along trade routes.A
rchaeologists working in London
in 1912 might have been surprised.
When they discovered a first-
century a.d. Roman jug bearing
the inscription “Londini ad fanum
Isidis—London, next door to the Temple of Isis.”
Best known as an Egyptian goddess, finding
signs of Isis worship so far from North Africa
might seem odd. But this god-
dess proved popular enough
to transcend her original
Egyptian centers of worship
and expand to all corners of the
known world.
Isis was loved by ancient
Egyptians for her fierce devo-tion to her husband Osiris and her son Horus.
Her cult first began to spread around the Medi-
terranean following the establishment of Hel-
lenist rule in Egypt in the fourth century b.c.
Then as Roman power expanded, worship of
Isis went even farther afield.
By the second century a.d., the Roman writer
Apuleius would glorify her as the “mother of
stars, the parent of seasons, and the mistress of
all the world.” Yet while she meant many things
to many cultures across the Roman world, her
roots lie in a very specific place and time: the Nile
Delta at the dawn of ancient Egyptian history.Egyptian Origins
Isis is the Greek form of the goddess’s name,
which in ancient Egyptian was Aset, meaning
“seat” or “throne.” Depicted as a slim woman
wearing a sheath dress, she is often shown with
a throne on her head. As her divine roles diver-
sified, her appearance would change. Hathor, an
early Egyptian goddess of motherhood, was of-
ten shown with a solar disk and cow horns. As
Isis became closely linked to maternity, her
headdress morphed and became like Hathor’s.
Isis’s ability to absorb new traits would prove
valuable to the longevity and spread of her wor-
ship throughout the ancient world.
In one of the most popular tellings of the Isis
myth, she is one of the children of the gods Geb,
god of the earth, and Nut, goddess of the sky. She
marries one of her brothers, the god Osiris, and
the pair rule the world. Osiris is murdered by his
jealous younger brother Set, who dismembers
the body and scatters it. Grieving, Isis searches
the world to collect the pieces and puts him back
together. Osiris is revived, but rather than being
the lord of the living, Osiris becomes lord of the
dead. Isis gives birth to a son, Horus (a popular
art motif depicts Isis nursing her infant son).ISIS EMBRACES THE PHARAOH
RAMSES III (LEFT). RELIEF FROM THE
12TH-CENTURY B.C. TOMB OF PRINCE
AMUN-HER-KHEPESHEF.
UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
SCALA, FLORENCEGOLDEN
FAMILY
Isis, wearing a horned
solar disk, and her
son Horus gesture
to the seated Osiris
on a ninth-century
b.c. gold pendant
(below). Louvre
Museum, Paris30 MARCH/APRIL 2020